The Student-Labor Coalition: Collaborative Support for Public Higher Education
First published in the May 2013 edition of The Bullhorn. The original publication can be found here.

As a strong effort to connect student and union interests for the benefit of public higher education, SUNY New Paltz student leaders, UUP members, CSEA leadership, and the Bard College Student-Labor Dialogue met to initiate a student-labor coalition on the SUNY New Paltz campus. In the 1990s, several New Paltz students formed the Student-Labor Action Coalition (SLAC), inspired by AFL-CIO summer workshops and combined with nation-wide anti-sweatshop activism. By the time the founding students graduated, public perception of labor unions turned drastically sour and the group dissolved. We will not let that happen again.
Revitalized efforts for a joint student-labor initiative began in October. With a talk by Pauline Lipman on the Chicago Teachers’ Strike less than a month away, the group hoped to gain campus-wide interest in labor unions and specific UUP battles. It worked. The next semester, the Student-Labor Meetings in March and April hosted leadership from several student activist organizations, including the Student Association Executive Board and Senate, New York Students Rising, NYPIRG, and Amnesty International. The group also succeeded in extending past UUP issues to create a multi-union and student dialogue. CSEA chapter leaders Maria Mach, Gerry Bartholomew, and Nancyann Calcagno raised their concerns about the upcoming vote on a new food service provider, fearing a vote for a company other than Sodexo could destroy their long struggle for union recognition and rights. Fueled in part by the dialogue, students and workers joined together at the March 10th CAS Board meeting to protect union interests. Their efforts influenced the board to renew Sodexo’s contract.
The most recent project, May Day $5K, is a rally for worker and union rights, combining students and labor in a joint initiative on the Academic Concourse. Adjunct compensation, job security, and lecturer workload will be at the forefront of activists’ minds during this end-of-the-year celebration. At noon on May 1, student and labor leaders will address fundamental higher education concerns to increase campus-wide recognition of union concerns. The group plans to link up the New Paltz May Day event with those at other campuses, including Vassar. In tandem with rally efforts, Chapter President Peter Brown drafted a “Mayday Manifesto”, circulating to all UUP chapters and inviting their support in our growing $5K campaign. Already, his petition for adjunct compensation and job security received support from the New Faculty Majority and attention by Inside Higher Ed, a popular online resource for higher education news. As the semester draws to the close, non-graduating student leaders and devoted union members must take the reins next year to continue the fight for worker rights.
Revitalized efforts for a joint student-labor initiative began in October. With a talk by Pauline Lipman on the Chicago Teachers’ Strike less than a month away, the group hoped to gain campus-wide interest in labor unions and specific UUP battles. It worked. The next semester, the Student-Labor Meetings in March and April hosted leadership from several student activist organizations, including the Student Association Executive Board and Senate, New York Students Rising, NYPIRG, and Amnesty International. The group also succeeded in extending past UUP issues to create a multi-union and student dialogue. CSEA chapter leaders Maria Mach, Gerry Bartholomew, and Nancyann Calcagno raised their concerns about the upcoming vote on a new food service provider, fearing a vote for a company other than Sodexo could destroy their long struggle for union recognition and rights. Fueled in part by the dialogue, students and workers joined together at the March 10th CAS Board meeting to protect union interests. Their efforts influenced the board to renew Sodexo’s contract.
The most recent project, May Day $5K, is a rally for worker and union rights, combining students and labor in a joint initiative on the Academic Concourse. Adjunct compensation, job security, and lecturer workload will be at the forefront of activists’ minds during this end-of-the-year celebration. At noon on May 1, student and labor leaders will address fundamental higher education concerns to increase campus-wide recognition of union concerns. The group plans to link up the New Paltz May Day event with those at other campuses, including Vassar. In tandem with rally efforts, Chapter President Peter Brown drafted a “Mayday Manifesto”, circulating to all UUP chapters and inviting their support in our growing $5K campaign. Already, his petition for adjunct compensation and job security received support from the New Faculty Majority and attention by Inside Higher Ed, a popular online resource for higher education news. As the semester draws to the close, non-graduating student leaders and devoted union members must take the reins next year to continue the fight for worker rights.